Who Lives Here by Julia Donaldson illustrated by Rebecca Cobb

 

It is always fun when someone invites you to visit but what would you do if they only told you the street name and not the exact address.

"The houses in South Street all stood in a row. But which how was Dan's house? I just didn't know."

So, the child ventures along the street, with their parent standing by, investigating each house. Number one - no, Number two - no, Number three - no, Number four - no. Does Dan live at Number Five?

Look at the team who have produced this book - Julia Donaldson master storyteller and wrangler of perfect rhyming texts and Rebecca Cobb who does nostalgic, sweet, detailed illustrations and draws the faces of children with so much emotion. Bonus - this book has lift the flap pages, fold out pages and it is made from sturdy paper so it can survive young hands who will read and re-read this treasure.

Julia Donaldson has created another original and entertaining read in rhyming verse and regular rhythm for reading aloud. It has the element of surprise that children love as they lift the flaps or try to guess what could be hiding there. Kids' Book Review

A gently reassuring jaunt, great for those starting school and making new friends, it suggests Donaldson’s knack for catchy rhymes and deeply resonant themes shows no signs of waning. Long may she reign over bedtime. The Guardian

Do you need a Christmas gift for a young child (aged 3+) - go out and grab this book - it is perfect. Take a look at my recent post about Julia Donaldson. 

Very sadly one of our excellent independent bookstores here in Sydney, Australia is set to close before the end of this year. This means all of their stock is now on sale. I have had Who Lives Here on my book wish list for the last few months. Hardcover picture books have become quite expensive but this one was only AUS$28 less my 20% discount. I now have to decide if I will gift this book or keep in on my own shelves.

My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything has a Pinterest of picture books that features houses and homes. Companion books:

Squeak Street (See the full original series here).

It could also be fun to include this book if you are working on a theme of Happy Birthday stories. You could talk about all the details that need to be included on a party invitation. 

The Birthday Invitation

Do You Wonder by Wallace Edwards

"Sometimes I wonder about the mysteries of the sky."

"Sometimes I wonder why some songs make me happy."

"Sometimes I wonder how to join the conversation."

This is a book that should be added to EVERY Primary school library. It is a gentle reminder of things that are important. We all need to slow down, help each other, persevere, acknowledge our emotions, and also spend a little time, from time to time, pondering the BIG questions of life. 

Do You Wonder? raises some potentially sensitive issues as well, subtly asking questions about why we sometimes experience feelings of sadness, loneliness, ambition, competition, and anxiety. There is no narrative linking the pages in this gentle picture book, nor are there any answers to the questions, but the very open-endedness provides ample opportunities for conversation between parent/caregiver and child, and also opens the door for children to share their experiences and ask their own questions about the world. Highly Recommended Canadian Review of Materials

This book was published in Canada in 2022 and it is available for a reduced price (October 2023). I found a copy here and also here. Sadly, Wallace Edwards died late in 2022 aged 65. 

Wallace Edwards was a Canadian illustrator and writer who won the 2002 Governor General's Award for his first children's book Alphabeasts. Here are four of his other books:

The text of this book is wonderful, but it is the illustrations that will really 'blow your mind'. Wallace Edwards interprets each piece of text in a quirky, humorous, clever, and thought-provoking way.

IBBY Australia Mini Masterpiece art Auction

 

Here is my first post about our Art Auction. I'm just sharing some more images that are sure to tempt you. Check out all the art pieces here.

Jonathan Bentley. Read my post about Ella and the Ocean

Emma Quay. Read my post about Bear and Chook

Nicky Johnston. Read my post about Amira's Suitcase

Alias Anna by Susan Hood and Greg Dawson

Alias anna: A true story of outwitting the Nazis

“I don’t care what you do,” her father told her. “Just live.”

Zhanna and her baby sister Frina have a happy life in the small resort town of Berdyansk, Ukraine. Papa plays the violin and the family have a true love of music so it is natural that Zhanna and later her sister are sent to music lessons. The family are not wealthy but they do manage to buy a small piano and it is very clear, early on, that Zhanna is a gifted musician. She receives scholarships and begins to play at concerts. Then everything changes:

Happy times

for Zhanna and her family

were swallowed up

when a power-hungry dictator

named Josef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili

started to devour their country in the early 1930s.

He was better known as Joseph Stalin,

an alias he assumed meaning 'Man of Steel.'

Stalin had a plan for ridding the country

of the old ways and looking to the future. 

By 1935 the family are forced to flee their home and move to Kharkov a city of nearly one million people. "The Arshansky's home was not a house, but one room in a run-down apartment."

Luckily they still have their piano and both girls are accepted for scholarships which provide enough money so the family don't starve. In 1939 Stalin made a deal with Hitler that their countries "would not attack each other for the next ten years" but just two years later Hitler invaded Ukraine and for Zhanna, her sister, parents and grandparents, as Jews, we watch as their nightmare begins. 

Publisher blurb: The moving true story of how young Ukrainian Jewish piano prodigies Zhanna (alias “Anna”) and her sister Frina outplayed their pursuers while hiding in plain sight during the Holocaust. A middle grade nonfiction novel-in-verse by award-winning author Susan Hood with Greg Dawson (Zhanna’s son). She wouldn’t be Zhanna. She’d use an alias. A for Anna. A for alive. When the Germans invade Ukraine, Zhanna, a young Jewish girl, must leave behind her friends, her freedom, and her promising musical future at the world’s top conservatory. With no time to say goodbye, Zhanna, her sister Frina, and their entire family are removed from their home by the Nazis and forced on a long, cold, death march. When a guard turns a blind eye, Zhanna flees with nothing more than her musical talent, her beloved sheet music, and her father’s final plea: “I don’t care what you do. Just live.” 

A harrowing and remarkable story of strength and survival. Kirkus review

Hood tells Zhanna’s sto­ry through both free verse and a rich array of forms. One chap­ter uses the full alpha­bet as ini­tial let­ters of cat­e­gories for Stalin’s vic­tims. Ele­gies, haiku, cou­plets, and ter­cets, also cap­ture the essence of dif­fer­ent points through dif­fer­ent lens­es. The use of poet­ry is effec­tive, echo­ing in its com­plex­i­ty the music of a sin­gu­lar life caught in the chaos of history. Jewish Book Council

Awards:

• 2023 Winner of the Christopher Award
• 2023 Sydney Taylor Notable Book
• Finalist for the 2023 National Jewish Book Awards
• The 2022 Nerdies: Poetry and Novels in Verse
• The New York Public Library Best Books of 2022
• The Chicago Public Library Best Books of 2022

The verse format and harrowing narrative make this a quick read for reluctant and striving readers. VERDICT This powerful work of persistence and hope is highly recommended.   School Library Journal

Here is the web page for Susan Hood who wrote this book with Greg Dawson - son of Zhanna. Kisten to an audio sample from the beginning of this verse novel. Susan Hood is the author of Ada's Violin. 

This is a powerful true story told as a verse novel suitable for readers aged 13+. I am certain this story will linger with me for years to come partly because it is a true story but mainly because, even though things are utterly dreadful for these two sisters there is that all important (important in read life too) happy ending. I also loved all the refences to the music they played and the way Zhanna saved one precious piece of sheet music reminded me of another powerful story The Red Piano by Andre Leblanc illustrated by Barroux.

This book also contains a map, authors’ note, photographs, letters, afterword, list of music, historical note, poetry notes, sources and an extensive bibliography. In this interview we hear Greg Dawson and his mother Zhanna. Zhana died early in 2023 aged 95.

Read more here - Playing to live: Pianist survived Holocaust by performing for Nazis

The piece of music that sustained Zhanna was Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-sharp Minor op.66 by Chopin. There is a full list of all the music mentioned in Alias Anna at the back of the book.

The five sheets of music of Chopin’s “Fantasy Impromptu” that she tucked under her clothes and survived with her. “How she preserved five sheets of music is beyond me,” Greg Dawson says. “You know how perishable paper is.” The sheet music was Zhanna Arshanskaya Dawson’s treasure; it kept her going all those years when there was so little hope for survival. It is safely locked away now in a bank safety deposit box, something for newer generations of her family to look at – and remember a survivor.

I would read Alias Anna alongside these:

Beyond Belief

To Hope and Back

Let me Whisper you my Story

We are Wolves

Everywhere with You by Carlie Sorosiak illustrated by Devon Holzwarth

"Did you know,' the girl whispers,' that this is my favourite time of day? Being here with you?"

On one side of the fence there is a dog. He is all alone although I guess someone does feed him but he doesn't seem to ever leave that backyard. On the other side of the fence there is a girl. 

She pokes her fingers through the fence; then the next day she gives the dog a treat or two; and finally she sits by the fence and reads her book aloud:

"I hope you don't mind ... but I've noticed that no one ever plays with you - and I like reading aloud."

And so together - dog and girl - imagine themselves under the oceans with mermaids and sea treasures; the become sky pirates riding dragons; and magicians with silver wands. 

But days are long for the dog until one evening something happens and he finds a way to reach the girl's back door. 

Adult readers might find the ending a little improbable, but the 'happily ever after' feeling is sure to delight all young readers. 

The 2024 Children's Book Council of Australia slogan is Reading is Magic - here is a perfect book to use when you introduce this idea next year.  See inside Everywhere with You here. 

Carlie Sorosiak is the author of a terrific middle grade book about dogs:

I, Cosmo

Carlie Sorosiak also wrote Always, Clementine - I gave that book five stars. I previously talked about Found you by Devon Holzwarth. 

Should picture books talk about depression?

This is a very personal topic - my mother suffered from extreme anxiety and at times also depression. I am acutely aware of the impact this can have and so I am extra sensitive to books on this topic especially books for very young children (note The Red Tree is a Young Adult title) and also books that to my eye give simple, simplistic or unrealistic 'solutions' to anxiety, sadness or depression.

IBBY Australia are holding a Mini Masterpiece postcard sized art auction from 18th November, 2023. One of the pieces available at our auction is from The Brown Dog by Gina Inverarity illustrated by Greg Holfeld. This book from 2017 is a new discovery by me. Greg has sent us an original image from this book for the auction. I really like the image which is a kookaburra, but I found story of The Brown Dog quite disturbing. 

The ideas in The Brown Dog are very similar to Mr Huff (Winner of the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year: Early Childhood, 2016).

In The Brown Dog, the actual feelings or emotions of the young child are never directly stated. After many days of feeling alone and unable to participate in his usual routine Grandpa arrives. The boy joins his grandfather and having his company and enjoying things together such as a bush walk, star gazing, and a game of chess mean this young-looking boy is now somehow now able to tell the black dog to leave. Here is a review of The Brown Dog. 

As a 2021-23 CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) picture book judge we were sent this book -  A Blue Kind of Day. Again, this story really troubled me. The solution to the depression experienced by this child seemed way too simple. But the reviewer of the School Library Journal (I am quite amazed this book reached the US market) completely disagrees with me. 

Other reviewers said:

Short sentences beautifully convey how Coen is feeling and simple emotion-filled illustrations capture the feelings of the family members. Empathy, compassion and understanding shine throughout this thoughtful story making this an important book to share together. A Word about Books

The art in this book beautiful.  The illustrations help the reader feel his emotions as he moves through them. Storytime Solidarity

A loving tribute to the power of loved ones’ support during trying times. Kirkus star review

About the illustrator: Tori-Jay Mordey is an Indigenous Australian illustrator whose work traverses multiple mediums, such as digital illustration, drawing, painting, printmaking, film and murals. Her Torres Strait Islander and English heritage is often reflected in her contemporary Indigenous art practice- producing work based around her family and siblings as a way of understanding herself, her appearance and racial identity. She is based in Brisbane, Australia.

But here are somethings I noticed about this book: the author and illustrator biographic notes were oddly positioned. The convention is to usually place information like this at the back of the book. Coen has such an odd face which at times looks quite adult and his sister's face also conveys emotions that are hard to understand. The extensive notes at the back of this book by the psychologist author just make feel too didactic for my taste.

Here are two other books on this topic that I am keen to read:

Now you might like to read Shaun Tan's commentary on his book The Red Tree.

I'd also been increasingly aware that illustration is a powerful way of expressing feeling precisely because it lies outside of verbal language, as many emotions can be hard to articulate in words. I thought it would therefore be interesting to produce an illustrated book that is all about feelings, unframed any storyline context, in some sense going ‘directly to the source’. 

Back to my question - should children's books talk about depression?  I don't have a definitive answer but I do think this is a topic to handle with care. Parents, teachers and other gate keepers perhaps need to make individual decisions about the suitability of each of these books in the context of their own child. Again, speaking personally, when Mr Huff was shortlisted I did read it to some groups in my library - but not the youngest children in Kindergarten or Grade One. Perhaps I was wrong. I would love to read your comments.

IBBY Australia Mini Masterpiece Art Auction November 2023

 

Just look at all the wonderful names on this card! Yes, that really is Bob Graham, Jeannie Baker and Phil Bunting plus so many others.

Mini Masterpiece Auction

Mark the dates in your diary NOW

IBBY Australia is running an online auction of postcard sized ‘Mini Masterpieces’ as a fundraiser. Tasters from Australian illustrators Ann James, Jess Racklyeft, Jeannie Baker, Jonathan Bentley, Sean Avery can be viewed online. 

More images will be added as they are submitted – bidding starts at just $75 and will run from 18 November – 1 December. 

Find your favourite today!

These post cards will make splendid gifts - Christmas, a new baby, for a library and of course for all fans of children's books. They will look fabulous framed and hung on your wall.

Read about IBBY Australia here.

Along with original pieces created just for us the art auction has original art pieces from or based on illustrations from these books ...

The Concrete Garden

Read about Ann James

Frank's Red Hat

Cub and Brown

We sent our IBBY invitation to 100+ Australian Children's book illustrators and so we are thrilled to have nearly 40 art pieces for our auction.

Each year, IBBY Australia must pay a membership fee to remain part of the international IBBY organisation. Formed in 1966, IBBY Australia is one of 80 National sections of IBBY. 

IBBY is a nonprofit organization that helps to build bridges to international understanding through children’s books. As you may know, IBBY Australia promotes Australian authors and illustrators by submitting their work for several IBBY administered international awards, including:

• The Hans Christian Andersen Award

• IBBY Honour Book List

• the Silent Books collection 

• the Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities list 

Take a look at our Pinterest here where you can see past HCAA Nominees and winners and Ena Noel award winners and our Honour books. 

You might also like to read about The Silent Books collection here. We are thrilled that our nominee The Boy and the Elephant was accepted for the 2023 collection.